The Power of the Holy Spirit...the phrase that has "haunted me" for quite some time.....
It as been defined by the orthodox, it has been claimed to be in use by evangelicals, it has been perplexing to many in the Christian church, and pretty much ignored by the rest of us.
The Sacred Scriptures are clear on our need to be "Born Again", yet receiving and being filled with ...the Power of the Holy Spirit...has been a confusing subject of the Church since His arrival as described in the Book of Acts.
After Jesus had been raised from the dead by His Father, He was specific in His instructions to His disciples who spoke with Him and even ate a meal with Him....Jesus instructed them to wait...wait for the Holy Spirit. The disciples didn't know how long the wait would be, other than Jesus describing the length of the wait "in a little while", yet they followed His instructions and...waited.
Before Jesus left to return to His Father, He spoke to them of the Holy Spirit. At that moment, the disciples were not clear as to what He had in mind, and asked if He was going to restore Israel and be their true King and Messiah. Then, as Jesus was taken up into a cloud and His disciples were straining to see where He was going, we read where 2 men appeared and promised Jesus would return in the same way they were seeing Him leave.
So, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and waited....
Some think the wait was 50 days, others say it was only 7 days because Jesus was with them over 40 days after the Resurrection and before His Ascension. yet, others claim it was a 10 day wait because of the church's celebration of the Day of Pentecost.
All I have come to realize is... what a wild beginning...the Jesus trials, the disciples deserting Him on the night of the betrayal, the horrible beating of our Messiah, and His powerful Resurrection...then extending His Peace to the very disciples that had deserted Him the second He appeared to them...and now the disciples were locking themselves in rooms...because of fear of retaliation of their decision only a few years ago...when He said to them : "Follow Me".
And now...He said: "Wait...".
In the Gospel of John chapter 20...starting around verse 19...there is an excitement and hope in Him that is really ignited among His disciples.
The disciples had been through a very difficult few days: it was just a couple of days before they had denied knowing Him...with Peter recorded to have denied Him 3 different times just as Jesus had foretold, they had witnessed or at least were aware of perhaps one of the bloodiest executions known...to the very One they had put all their hope in life in, they knew He had died, and now reports even among themselves were...He had been seen in the early morning hours. Yet, now they had locked themselves in a room in fear of retaliation by the local Jewish leaders...and suddenly..guess who is standing...right in their midst....Jesus!
The first thing Jesus does is...extend His Peace to them, and shows them His Hands and His side. The disciples went "crazy"....filled with joy and totally estactic in seeing Him.
Then, Jesus extends His Peace to them once again and said: "Just as My Father has sent Me to you...I Am sending you out..."
Then, verses 22-23 writes: " Then He took a deep breath and breathed on (some translate into) them saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive some one's sins, they are forgiven...gone! If you don't forgive another of sin, then what are you to do, for they are not forgiven."
Hmmm? Ok...I guess I will start there....
It as been defined by the orthodox, it has been claimed to be in use by evangelicals, it has been perplexing to many in the Christian church, and pretty much ignored by the rest of us.
The Sacred Scriptures are clear on our need to be "Born Again", yet receiving and being filled with ...the Power of the Holy Spirit...has been a confusing subject of the Church since His arrival as described in the Book of Acts.
After Jesus had been raised from the dead by His Father, He was specific in His instructions to His disciples who spoke with Him and even ate a meal with Him....Jesus instructed them to wait...wait for the Holy Spirit. The disciples didn't know how long the wait would be, other than Jesus describing the length of the wait "in a little while", yet they followed His instructions and...waited.
Before Jesus left to return to His Father, He spoke to them of the Holy Spirit. At that moment, the disciples were not clear as to what He had in mind, and asked if He was going to restore Israel and be their true King and Messiah. Then, as Jesus was taken up into a cloud and His disciples were straining to see where He was going, we read where 2 men appeared and promised Jesus would return in the same way they were seeing Him leave.
So, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and waited....
Some think the wait was 50 days, others say it was only 7 days because Jesus was with them over 40 days after the Resurrection and before His Ascension. yet, others claim it was a 10 day wait because of the church's celebration of the Day of Pentecost.
All I have come to realize is... what a wild beginning...the Jesus trials, the disciples deserting Him on the night of the betrayal, the horrible beating of our Messiah, and His powerful Resurrection...then extending His Peace to the very disciples that had deserted Him the second He appeared to them...and now the disciples were locking themselves in rooms...because of fear of retaliation of their decision only a few years ago...when He said to them : "Follow Me".
And now...He said: "Wait...".
In the Gospel of John chapter 20...starting around verse 19...there is an excitement and hope in Him that is really ignited among His disciples.
The disciples had been through a very difficult few days: it was just a couple of days before they had denied knowing Him...with Peter recorded to have denied Him 3 different times just as Jesus had foretold, they had witnessed or at least were aware of perhaps one of the bloodiest executions known...to the very One they had put all their hope in life in, they knew He had died, and now reports even among themselves were...He had been seen in the early morning hours. Yet, now they had locked themselves in a room in fear of retaliation by the local Jewish leaders...and suddenly..guess who is standing...right in their midst....Jesus!
The first thing Jesus does is...extend His Peace to them, and shows them His Hands and His side. The disciples went "crazy"....filled with joy and totally estactic in seeing Him.
Then, Jesus extends His Peace to them once again and said: "Just as My Father has sent Me to you...I Am sending you out..."
Then, verses 22-23 writes: " Then He took a deep breath and breathed on (some translate into) them saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive some one's sins, they are forgiven...gone! If you don't forgive another of sin, then what are you to do, for they are not forgiven."
Hmmm? Ok...I guess I will start there....
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